Barrister and Mann "Omnibus"

Haven't seen any dedicated threads for B&M's newest base, so figured I would start one. Will recently released his new and improved base "Omnibus" which has been in development for awhile now. It boasts improved post shave feel, slickness, large hydration window, and excellent lather in hard water (among some other things im probably forgetting). That last part caught my attention the most. Long story short, I recently moved into a new house with hard water and have been having trouble lathering some of my soaps. I saw the samples in stock at Maggards and decided it was worth a shot. Leviathan is a scent I haven't tried before, as it didn't look up my alley. But with the new base, I figured it was worth a shot. 

I'm not good at describing scents, so I'm not going to spend much time on it. Leviathan has a smoky leathery smell off that tub that transforms into something sweeter. The closest thing I can compare it to is Dr. Pepper. It is a pleasant and well blended scent, great for fall. I do not see myself buying a full size tub of it, but it isn't polarizing enough that I will not finish the sample. Heck, maybe it will grow on me.

The performance was great and met all of my expectations, plus some. I scooped an almond sized dollop and smashed it into my lather bowl. It loaded into a dense gooey lather before adding any water. I slowly hydrated it, and the lather stayed very dense with low volume. The more water I added the shinier and slicker that lather became. The hydration window was huge and the lather doesn't seem easy to break down. I added water until the lather was darn near dripping off the brush. It was still very stable and slick. I switched to a face lather, and painted it onto my face. The shave was effortless and the blade sliced through my stubble with no tugging or discomfort. Another plus I noticed was how easy the lather washed off my razor, leaving no residue. There was plenty of soap left in the brush, atleast enough for 3-4 passes. I rinsed my face, and was left with a close comfortable shave. Alum showed no irritation. I was amazed how soft my skin was after. Heck, my left hand feels like I used lotion from palm lathering. 

This new base stands with the best of the best, and lathers better than anything I've tried in hard water. The post shave feel is outstanding, and the other characteristics of this soap make the shave so enjoyable and effortless. I look forward to B&Ms other releases in this base and will definately be picking up a set in another scent.

Thanks for the writeup and review! Cheers

Dr Pepper?? I know scent is subjective but thats not a comparison that comes anywhere near to my mind when I smell Leviathan, assuming of course that this edition of Leviathan smells like the rest of them.    Thanks for the great review, I've got a tub of this on the way and I'm looking forward to lathering it.

I too have my tub of the new Omnibus Leviathan.
I’ve only lathered it up one time, so far.
I’m not in love with the scent, but I’ll stay with it.
It sure doesn’t bring Dr Pepper to mind…just a load of coffee and a little bit of leather.
Leviathan seems like a very one dimensional scent to me, like it isn’t finished.

The soap base, Omnibus, however…is incredible.
It just asks for water, laughs and asks for more!
It’s a very dense, slick lather and will match any that I’ve ever used.
Cushioning is OK but post shave is superb.

I have been a fan of Will’s soaps and have more than a few.
This is easily his best soap base, and the only one I’ve found that can compete with Franks Ethos products.
Hopefully Will can get beyond his AS balms (which are a disaster) and put in some time on aftershaves.
IMHO…Barrister and Mann’s excellent Beaudelaire, Chypre, LaVanille, and Fougere Angelique don’t compare to the mediocre effort of Leviathan, Roam and Diamond scents. 

I’m still a B&M fanboy and I’m hoping Will can bring some new interesting scents to the Omnibus lineup!

Again, scent is subjective but I think Leviathan is one of Will’s most popular scents after Hallows. My own experience with it was on its first release and the first time I lathered it I did not like it. It smelled like wet dog to me. Funny thing though, after not using for a couple of weeks I lathered it and it was completely different to my nose and I loved it. Still do. I don’t know what happened in my nose/brain in the interval and why it smelled so different to me the second time I used it. As for those who don’t care for it, that’s fine, that leaves more for the rest of us 

Was a beta tester for Omnibus. Knew from the first samples that Will was on to something extraordinary. My take concurs with Patriot: it easily in top 2 of current soap bases and the only soap standing squarely with ETHOS.

Again, scent is subjective but I think Leviathan is one of Will’s most popular scents after Hallows. My own experience with it was on its first release and the first time I lathered it I did not like it. It smelled like wet dog to me. Funny thing though, after not using for a couple of weeks I lathered it and it was completely different to my nose and I loved it. Still do. I don’t know what happened in my nose/brain in the interval and why it smelled so different to me the second time I used it. As for those who don’t care for it, that’s fine, that leaves more for the rest of us 

Oh Good God, love me some wet dog!!

I also got the Leviathan in the new Omnibus base and I think Will hit it out of the park with this one and I was going to text him to tell him that. I think it was very creative to use the Polyacrylamidomethylpropane Sulfonic Acid in it. It’s a synthetic ingredient that’s commonly used in the hair and skin care industry and is a polymer that’s used as a film - former, a smoothing agent with lots of slip that offers a nice lubricity and can give the feel of an almost powdery soft feel to the skin. To me this was very creative and hats off to Will.

I will echo the thoughts of the other users so no need to repeat what was already said.. It’s noticeably a dense lather that will take a lot of water. Definitely a coffee forward scent but over all mild to my nose.

It’s funny I was thinking of doing a write up on post shave characteristics of shave soaps. ( no specific brand to name ) but to me up until now I’d say there are 3 very different types of post shave but now after using Wills’s new base I’d have to add a 4 one to the list. Working with and developing skin and hair are products for many years I’m very familiar with these types of ingredients and I can recognize feel of it in the post shave especially.

If Will sees this post.. all I have to say is good job buddy!

I will wait on Omnibus to become available in another scent as I hate Leviathan's scent (not a coffee drinker). As regards post-shave nothing will top this moisturizer:

https://www.theinkeylist.com/products/po...gKha_D_BwE